The Edmonton Real Estate Blog, Market Information, Advise & Opinion

Check out this at the national level. Thank god we don't have HST! Let's see how this impacts our local market:

 

Home sales activity in Canada came up short of the record for the month of April and new listings continued to climb, according to statistics released by CREA. Residential sales activity via the MLS® Systems of Canadian real estate Boards numbered 52,042 units in April 2010. This is less than 1% short of the record for national sales activity during the month of April, which was set in 2007. Compared to April 2009, national activity was up 20%. “The easing trend in national sales activity masks a rising trend in a number of major markets,” said CREA President Georges Pahud. “Real estate is local, so buyers and sellers should engage the services of a REALTOR® for knowledge about housing market trends in their market.”

Some 99,901 homes were newly listed for sale on Canadian MLS® Systems in April 2010, surpassing the previous record for the month of April set in 2008 by 0.6%. A total of 236,397 residential properties were listed for sale on Boards’ MLS® Systems at the end of April 2010, down 1.9% from levels one year earlier.

As for the national average price of homes sold via Canadian MLS® Systems, that figure rose 12.2% over this time last year. This is a smaller increase compared to those recorded over the past eight months. Bucking the national trend, price gains continue to increase in a number of major markets in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.

“Next month will mark the passage of one year since the national average price rebounded from the recessionary trough to return to the pre-recession peak, so the rise in the national average price is expected to be more subdued next month, ” said CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump. “The national average price could potentially be skewed higher over the next couple of months if buyers of higher priced homes in Ontario and British Columbia move their purchase decision forward to beat the introduction of the HST in July.”

For the complete release, visit CREAs web site.